Ford has led the used car market to a strong start in 2017 with a record number of vehicles sold in the UK in the first quarter, said the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
It reported 2,133,956 used cars changed hands in the first three months of the year, 3.4% more than in 2016 resulting in the biggest-ever volume seen in Q1 and reflecting the growth in new car sales over the same period.
Top ten used UK models Ford Fiesta 101,840 Ford Focus 94,889 Vaux Corsa 91,264 Vaux Astra 76,615 VW Golf 68,192 BMW 3 53,310 Ren Clio 44,094 VW Polo 39,378 MINI 38,783 Audi A3 29,005 | Wales was bottom of the ten regions with 113,066 used cars sold, reflecting its fall in new car sales over the same period. Diesel and petrol sales remained steady, with gains of 5.6% and 1.6% respectively. Of the 851,569 used diesel cars sold in Q1, one in five were the latest low emission Euro 6 models. More motorists also took advantage of the wide range of alternatively fuelled hybrid, electric and hydrogen cars entering the second hand market, with registrations rising 43.2% to 21,320 units. This segment accounted for 1.0% of the market, compared with 0.7% last year. The supermini segment remained the most popular, accounting for more than a third of the used car market, however, the mini segment was the fastest growing – with sales up 13.2%. While silver remained the best-selling colour at 463,959 sales, figures show its popularity may be fading with sales declining -2.1%. White cars saw the biggest growth, up 17.1%, with used car sales echoing trends seen in the new car market in recent years. |